Tokyo Part 2

I apologize that I have not updated recently, things got kind of busy here and I don't have a ton to report on. Before I get back to Tokyo travels I did want to mention I saw Sumo wrestling with my folks in one of their last days here. It was wicked exciting and a lot more fun to watch than I expected. The sport is so raw and gritty that the crowd gets really into it. If I were in a part of Japan in the future where I could watch another tournament, I definitely would, it was that much fun. I also went to Takarazuka, which is an all female musical troupe. It was a very interesting experience noting who the patrons were. Seeing how the women played the males and such, one may think that males dominate the audience; however, this is quite the contrary, as the male students on my trip were the only male patrons in the entire theater. Either way, it was a pretty good time, the show was difficult to understand, but the pit band was out of this world.

Now back to Tokyo! On my parents first full day in town, we decided to go to the Imperial Palace for a tour. Although it was a very pretty establishment and we found it cool to enter the most guarded place in all of Japan, it felt a little underwhelming. We were expecting more of a showy set of architecture, but the buildings and living quarter were more grand in size and space, and more plain in terms of amenities. Nonetheless, it was pretty amazing to see where the the Emperor himself lives, now if only we could've gotten a picture with him...

The next exciting place we went to was Tokyo Tower. Much like going to the Prudential (or any other really tall building) there were some amazing views of Tokyo. We learned one very important thing at the Tower: Tokyo is HUGE. We didnt see anything but buildings and more buildings, even at the top of the tower. I'm pretty sure Tokyo is bigger than even New York actually, which makes sense considering how busy it can be sometimes.

Finally, one of my highlights during the trip was going to the Tsukiji fish market at 6 in the morning. This is one of the most popular and thriving fish markets in the entire world and it was packed with different vendors running amuck. My father and I literally had to dodge out of the way of vehicles, as we were told they care much more about their fish than they do about our lives. That being said, it was AWESOME seeing fish get gutted, put out on shelves, and sold. Enjoy the pictures to see exactly what it was like!

As for the food, I have to say I was slightly disappointed with Tokyo in comparison to Osaka. I did have some excellent donburi and ramen in my first few days, but as time went on, I found the food to be kind of bland. However, we did find some delicious Chinese food and some great Yaki-niku. Yaki-niku is basically all you can eat meat for a set price. You cook it yourself, put the meat in an array of sauces, and go wild. Only problem is, in Japan the meat is occasionally fatty. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it a ton!

So that was Tokyo, the shinkansen ride to Kyoto was awesome and quick, but wicked expensive. Since I loved it so much, I will be returning to Tokyo at the end of this month for our week off from school. Hopefully for more sightseeing and more nightlife research ;-). I really enjoyed the time I spent with my folks and I miss them a bit. Now that I've been here for over two months, I feel like I've really gotten to know Japan, inside and out. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a clueless kid lost in translation most of the time, but I feel adjusted to Japan. I feel like I could grow into this culture and adjust naturally to living here. There are still some customs I need to learn/figure out (if Japanese people don't understand sarcasm, how do they make jokes?), but I think I could live here and I would really like to work here for a year or two in my future. I really do enjoy interacting with the Japanese people, although I am left to wonder what my place really is in there society. I'll tell you one thing though, middle aged Japanese guys love talking baseball with me. With my knowledge of the Japanese players on the Japanese teams and of course, Dice-K and company back home, I made a lot of Japanese friends during the World Baseball Classic Tournament. One other really cool thing about people here is how well informed they are when it comes to subjects they can be proud of. That may have sounded a little odd, but if you watched the World Baseball Classic you may have seen an excellent Japanese pitcher named Yu Darvish. This guy is lights out and will be in the states in two years tops. Interestingly enough, every single Japanese person knows who he is. The country really takes pride in the best of the best, it reminds me of home :-)

Ja Matta!